


Brotherly Love - Among Humans

by Valdyr



Series: The Angel Within [15]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Beside a lot of Canonical Death, Episode: s05e19 Hammer of the Gods, M/M, Non-Canonical Character Death, Satan being Satan
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-21
Updated: 2017-07-21
Packaged: 2018-12-01 15:41:06
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,095
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11489475
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Valdyr/pseuds/Valdyr
Summary: Samifer now has two brothers to brainwash and the following peace is fickle. But what else can he do when his long lost brother is about to die?





	Brotherly Love - Among Humans

**Author's Note:**

> I loved the original episode, but I still have a major problem with it. Well, two.  
> One: What happens to Kali's blood spell on the Winchester brothers? We never see her again after the escape, so... does she still have that control over them and just never used it? Or was it also bound to the hotel and disappeared when everybody left? Couldn't they have just added a single sentence for her to set them free or something? Urgh! But that one is just unexplained.  
> My second problem, the bigger one: When Gabriel reveals himself to Dean, he proclaims the blade fake, but still asks him to retrieve the blood, so the body she took the blood from must have been real, or it wouldn't be his blood and thus not binding for him. Does that mean that the real Gabriel, no illusion, was stabbed with a non-lethal blade? Because if so, how did nobody notice his not-so dead body leaving the room? If the body was a decoy and the real Gabriel was outside all along, I'd get that. But then the blood would be useless and he wouldn't have to ask for it! Am I missing something here or does this really make no sense whatsoever?  
> In any case: Since the blood matters in canon, I'll have the Gabriel they see be the real one, too. And the real Gabriel does not leave his real blade lying around somewhere; he carries it with him always, so the blade Kali finds with him is real as well and capable of killing him.

Ow. Ow, ow, ow.

He tried to get more comfortable and everything just hurt. But at least there was ground. Soft ground he slightly sank into, but still ground. No more sensation of falling. He blinked his eyes open and saw white. Blinding, hurtful white. He ground his jaw in displeasure and became abruptly aware of a tube in his mouth, in his throat.

He tried to breathe and it jammed his hectic pace, driving him into a panic. A beeping closeby that he had hardly noticed before ran rampant and the noise grated on his ears, spurring a splitting headache to life. Everything just went nuts and then people started running around in his periphery, yelling at each other and he just wanted to smite them all so he could be alone, but then everything went fuzzy again and he slipped back under.

The second time he woke, he hurt less. But he still hurt. Carefully he tested his breathing, moving his tongue and jaw and gulping experimentally. Whatever had obstructed him before was gone now. He listened and there was the same beeping as before. But it was calm again. There was another noise, though... Another breathing.

At once his eyes snapped open and zeroed in on the other, who jumped in surprise, one hand on his chest within the moment while the other still held on to a clipboard. He wore white. A white coat. And thus he realized that the beeping was a heart monitor. Damn, he should have seen that coming. But now he had the white-coated guy's still surprised attention.

"You're awake."

"I'm in a hospital."

"Well, yes. You better. Do you- Do you remember what happened to you?"

"...What did it look like?"

"Like you jumped out of a plane with no parachute. You should have been dead. You were, really. No pulse, no breath, no signs of life whatsoever. The paramedic on scene had actually called for a coroner already."

"Oh. ...Why am I here then?"

"Pupil reaction. Allegedly. It makes no sense really, but hope dies last, so they kept trying to reanimate you and once you were here, you got a brain scan."

A thought irked its way into his head that the doctor was being rather unprofessional in his wording, but then he looked around again. This had to be the only hospital in town and it looked small. Great, a village. He'd probally been told to cut the crap and speak English in every possible way within his first few weeks, so now he didn't even try anymore.

"What did't look like?"

"Well... While all else pointed toward death your brain was lit like a christmas tree. So we put you on life support. No-one really expected you to wake up or at least not any time soon, but there! A day later and your clawing at the tube meant to make your uncooperative body breathe."

Ah, so that had been stuck down his throat. He did not get the chance to ponder it for long, though. He knew that look. The human expected answers he could not give.

"Look... um... thanks, for saving my life... um... can I go now?"

"Go?!"

He scoffed and then he ripped a bunch of pages from his clipboard and gave them to him. They were x-rays. His, he assumed, and they did not look good. Actually, it looked like he had broken both arms and legs at least three times each, his hip in no less than five places, his shoulders blades and collar bones, his spine in so many places he couldn't count... oh and the back of his skull looked like it was tessellated.

"I can't go then?"

"You can't be alive. Now I would say I'm just traumatized by the mangled corpse they brought in and I'm seeing things and you're not sitting there and talking to me at all, but others saw your waking up, too. So there's only one explanation really."

"You have an explanation?"

"I'm missing something. The breaks are fresh, I checked. But by the time I repeated the x-rays, there were already less and the remaining suddenly looked old. ...Mind telling me what I'm missing? Or maybe where you fell from, considering that no-one knows of any plane passing by on that day."

For a long moment, he remained silent and just looked at the doctor, thinking. He liked the last doctor he had met a lot better. But he had this one to deal with now. Still his attitude irritated him, so he responded with his same condescending tone:

"Sure. I heal so fact because I am an angel and I fell from heaven."

"Funny. But just so you know, there is a deputy at your door and the FBI is at the entrance. Unauthorized flights do give an impression of smuggle."

He groaned as the med left to meet them. Of course he was about to be questioned. But not by FBI. He could bet that there had been a story in the news about his miraculous survival. And that meant hunters. But his mind clearer now.

'Luci? Can we zap away?'

'I am afraid, we can't.'

'What?! Why?'

'Because my main wings are still broken! They'll be fine soon, considering we're already conscious again. But not before the fake FBI gets here.'

'Dammit. This whole... What happened anyway? All I remember is Dean hitting the sigil. What did it do?'

'Actually, that was a retreat order.'

'Pardon?'

'The sigil was designed by angels and for them. It's older than your species, that's why it works on all angels. And because it was designed that way. It was help.'

'What?! You're kidding, right?'

'No, Sammy. The sigil was meant and once used to save angels too injured or otherwise weak to fly to safety. If even one of a group of soldiers still had the strength to use his blood for this sigil, they would all be sent to heaven. To the... let's call it heaven's sickbay. Because they would likely be in pain and might become combative, which would have a detrimental effect on the other patients, the spell unleashed by the sigil also sedated them before arrival. It was really a good thing.'

'Okaaay, but now...?'

'Now that it has been weaponized - the irony, really - angels dread it, because being sent home by humans generally means that they have failed their mission and that means that they're in trouble with their superiors. And that's something all angels of heaven dread.'

'...And what happened with us?'

'About us... We're not welcome in heaven, Sam. Well, I'm not. So when the sigil knocked me out and flung me at heaven, I bounced off like rubber ball and fell all the way back to earth. In retrospect I'm glad my unconsciouness-induced loss of concentration let my wings fade back into their natural state of invisibility, though. Or we'd be in even bigger trouble.'

'Bigger than hunters coming for us while we can't fly off?'

'Oh, that's no problem. I may be weakened with so much of my energy going into healing my body, but I'm not powerless. Let them come.'

They came, asked suspicious questions, became uneasy as he smirked, eventually pulled big knives to avoid alerting the entire hospital and street with gun shots and still ended up on the floor, unconscious and the last couple days wiped from their minds. Now he just had to lay low until he was healed and then he could try to tackle the big problem: Dean.

 

"I said: What. Do. We. Do. NOW?"

"I ain't deaf, boy. I heard you. As a matter of fact, I heard you the first time. And I answered, too."

"Yeah. 'I don't know.' Really helpful."

"What am I supposed to say?"

"I don't know!"

"Exactly! Look, we don't know how to exorcize angels. We also don't want to kill Sam and even if we did, we still wouldn't know how to kill the devil. So, lacking better or really any other options... how about we try talking to him?"

Dean snorted. He was pissed. And hella scared. And shit, why couldn't he remember? He knew that Alistair had almost exorized Cas. He'd been there. He had heard the words! But he couldn't recall them. And what use would it be? The demon had never finished his angel exorcizm. So even if Dean could recall the words he had heard, they wouldn't be enough.

But even knowing that success would not help him, he kept trying. He just couldn't sit there. Idly. While the devil walked the earth in Sammy's body. And he had already covered every inch of the walls with warding. So he racked his brains, angrily pacing to and fro in front of Bobby.

The older man on the other hand did his best to keep Dean from suspecting. He had considered trying to convince Dean that this was not bad, but even without prompting the younger hunter had told him in a single long rant about all that Zachariah and Lucifer had said and about how he had actually thought about it, which was accompanied by a hysteric laugh, and finally what Lucifer had done and how he had enjoyed it, prompting Dean to believe the victim after all.

Bobby had mentally cursed the fallen angel for getting carried away like that. He was no saint and he would never be a nice guy, everyone knew that and he could understand it. But did the idjit have to carry that out in front of Dean? Bloody temper of a bloody archangel.

Admittedly, he had also almost slipped when Dean came, feelings hitting him like punch in the gut when Dean rushed in with Adam but no Sam and yelling that the devil had him. He had almost yelled back 'How the hell did you find out?!' but managed to correct it into 'How the hell did you get that idea?!'.

Dean had still hesitated for a moment, looked him straight in the eyes and said "Christo!". When he hadn't reacted, the eldest Winchester had turned away with a curt nod and started on the warding, while Adam looked around in uncertainty as to what he should be doing.

That had been yesterday. But it might as well have been a decade ago and they still wouldn't have a solution. The only one who could bring them peace now was Sam with Lucifer. Which he obviously couldn't say. Just like he couldn't express his worry about what had happened to angel and vessel. They had no idea what the sigil did. It reminded him too much of Ellen molotoving Sam in the panic room. He wondered if Lucifer would be just as mad at Dean now...

Maybe that was why they were still gone! Because Bobby knew for a fact that the archangel could find any human on earth. That he had still not shown up yet greatly worried the hunter, but maybe Sam was not in trouble. Maybe he was just keeping his distance to keep Dean out of trouble. Perhaps Lucifer just needed the time to cool off.

Whatever the reason, though, it was not infinite. As dusk laid its sinister veil over their eyes, he felt a gust of wind within the confines of their four walls and a moment later Dean shouted out for Adam to run, his voice accompanied by the scrape of a blade over wood as he grabbed a knife. But by the time he reached them, both Dean and Adam already lay unconscious on the ground.

"Well, that was quick."

"I tried talking. But..."

Sam, or Lucifer, whoever was in charge right then, slightly waved his hand towards them and Bobby noticed blood on opposite walls of the room. Dean had probably tried to start the sigil with little hope of finishing it, but all the more hope of distracting the devil while Adam drew the sigil behind him so they could banish the angel. A futile hope, apparently.

But now that the situation had settled, Bobby noticed that Sam wore hospital clothes. The obvious question was on the tip of his tongue, but Sam saw it coming and shook his head in a way that clearly said: 'Don't ask.'

"Let's just say that I didn't find the effect of the sigil all that comfortable."

"Sorry."

"Wasn't you."

"...Is he mad?"

"I'm not."

"Lucifer? I really don't know how to tell you to apart anymore."

"Why would you? And how could you, really? We are one. You always speak to both of us and who answers can change within the sentence. Most of the time we agree anyway. If we didn't, you'd see. Why divide us?"

"Yeaaah, well... To know how to address you? Or should I mix it up, blend it like the kids these days do with celebrity couples? Lucifam? Lucamuel? Sacifer? Samifer?"

"Samifer! I like that one. Nope, Sacifer, that sounds like sassy. Wow, you got us to disagree!"

"Samifer it is, I'm not promoting your attitude."

A bitchface answered him.

"Yep, that attitude exactly."

"Could we just get back to business? Like these two, who need a slightly different retelling of their most recent history?"

"Right. Ideas?"

"Simple, isn't it? As he was confronting Zachariah, who was tormenting Adam, I burst in and used the sigil on those angel. We fled. End."

"..."

"You disagree."

"Sam... Well, Samifer... Dean wanted to let Michael in. Adam, too. And while they both might hate Zachariah with that version, they might still try to reach Michael. Don't you think?"

He tried not to show how his heart sank at that thought. Dean had been too riled up and scared for Adam since the big prize fight almost happened next to him to consider Michael again, but Bobby was not wrong. If he changed Dean memories to just him dragging them out, Dean would take his next chance to run off and give the archangel his consent.

That was no option for long. He had to find a way to change Dean's memories into a story that would end his willingness. A story to make him resist again. But how? How to give him hope?

All three pondered it, trying to find a way. But to solve the problem, they had to know it and really understand it. They had to trace it to its root. And that was Dean's lack of faith in Sam resisting Lucifer. So that was what they had to change. And then Sam felt the eldest and literally brightest of their trio gasp.

"I have an idea."

And he laid his hands on both Adam's and Dean's foreheads to change their memories in sync:

_The angels mandhandled him in and the first thing he saw was Adam, crumpled on the floor, clutching his stomach with a pained expression and coughing up blood._

_"Adam! Zachariah, you bastard. Let him go!"_

_Zachariah got all smarmy and smug and he hated it. He hated him. But he had to do this. For the greater god. He had to. For all of mankind. The repulsive angel was too gleeful as he predicted that Sam would soon follow in his footsteps now and the archangels would fight their big duel to the death. But despite the casualties of that, the planet would survive._

_He should just shut the hell up, Dean thought. He only wanted to get it over with. Before Sam or Bobby caught up. He knew he would likely see Sam's face again, but he didn't need to see his judgement now, and he didn't want Bobby to get himself hurt or even killed trying to stop the inevitable. He just wanted it to end._

_But then suddenly the door was flung open and Sammy rushed straight in. He didn't make it far, though. Zachariah, the bastard, made a downward gesture and Sam fell down to his hands and knees, his body now shaking and soon his lips were stained with blood, too. Dean suppressed the urge to run to him. This would all be over soon._

_Still the dick had to add insult to injury and order Sam to stay put right there like a good little bitch, waiting for his new master. Dean twitched. He could barely hold back the urge to stake the angel, consequences be damned. He hated him for speaking to Sammy like that, for looking at him like that._

_"Yeah, you'll be good. Devil's gonna ride your little maggot's ass good and hard soon enough. Now, Dean, about your new master..."_

_"No."_

_He blinked. That hadn't come from him. All looked back to Sam, who stared up with pure defiance in his eyes._

_"I am not the devil's bitch. He doesn't own me, he_ courts _me, you ass! And I may not be strong enough to fight you, to stop this... But he is. And he would do me any favor just for my attention."_

_Zachariah scoffed, but then Sam yelled his lungs out, calling for Lucifer to come to him and all the angels paled. Dean, too. And then the devil appeared. A blond man in simple clothes, but he just gave Sam a tiny kind smile and Zachariah's magical control of him shattered. Sam stood up again and cleaned away the blood with his sleeve._

_"I told you in your dreams, I'd always be there if you needed me."_

_"Thanks. Now could you do me another favor? Kill Zachariah?"_

_All eyes snapped over and the smile on the blond man's face turned into a devilish grin._

_"No need to ask."_

_He just snapped his fingers and Zachriah exploded, covering them, the walls and the ceiling with blood and tissue. The other angels were frozen for a moment and the next they were gone, while Lucifer turned to Sam with a slight bow like some performer on stage._

_"Happy?"_

_"Yeah, thanks again. So uhm... You do know that while I am truly grateful for your help... this doesn't warrant a yes from me."_

_"Oh, Sammy. We've been over this. You are meant fo-"_

_"No. You have my terms. End the apocalypse. For good. Then I might think about it. But as long as there is any chance for this fight to happen, my answer will never be yes. I may be like you in some ways, God's design shaping our lives and all. But in the way that matters most, I'm not like you. I have not forgotten the meaning of the word 'brother'. I have not forgotten what it feels like to love. Trust my word, Lucifer, I will never risk killing my brother, whom I love. Think on that, devil. Bye."_

_The devil's features darkened and the air cracked around him. He was furious, Satan was furious at them, he was totally gonna torture them into submission! Shit, shit, shit! He really didn't know how Sam could stand there like that, holding his ground, but then his younger brother ripped open his shirt, reavealing a bloody sigil on his skin, and slammed his bloody palm into it. With a shriek, the devil was gone._

_"Dean, Adam, I really think we should go before he recovers enough to come for us again."_

 

Dean's eyes snapped open. He was back at the safe house and could see Adam lying in the bed next to his, still asleep. But Sam was awake as he came over to him, Bobby following right behind.

"Hey, jerk. You with us again?"

He knew that that question meant more than what it said. And he felt horrible for it. And awed. He looked up to Sam literally and figuratively.

"I am... It just only really sank in now... You told him no."

"Of course."

"You called the devil, used him, and banished him."

"Zachariah got us once before and he's always surrounded by other angels... I didn't know how else to get rid of him. And Lucifer said he wanted to prove his good will, so... Godzilla and Mothra, remember? Sometimes it's best to let the big boys fight it out among each other."

"Yeah... I just... What you said... I don't know how you can still say you love me after I... after the things that _I_ said about _you_."

"Doesn't matter, we're still family. We are _brothers_ , Dean, no words can change that. We're blood. And we always will be."

Dean stood at that and just pulled him into a bone-crushing hug. He had doubted Sam, lost faith in his Sammy. How wrong he'd been. Sammy had _used_ the devil, but he would never give in. With all the mistakes both of them had made, they'd always been reparable. They always gotten through them. And they would get through this, too.

Together.

 

Sam smiled, welcomed by his brother, but inside his heart broke to pieces. If Dean knew, he would hate him. He loved only because he was fooled. He wondered if this was what closeted gay kids in conservative families felt like. Having to lie to be accepted, when every part of him wanted to receive this acceptance not for who he pretended to be but for who he really was.

A voice in his head that sounded a lot like his ethics lecturer hissed at him that he could not compare that, because he had _chosen_ Satan. But their union was God's plan, so was it really ever his choice? It was, he told himself. He kept Dean from chosing who had been meant for him, so it had to be a choice. A choice that Dean would never make. Not while he could help it.

'That might not be the case for much longer, Sam.'

'His head...'

'Yes. It's getting so fuzzy I almost slipped up as I made the changes. He needs steady, stable memories, true memories, to build on the fake ones and stabilize them or it will all come tumbling down. I can't mess with his mind again. Not for a season at least. And I'm only counting time in which he can make memories, so he must be awake for that.'

'And if he finds out again before?'

'Then he will know. And I won't be able to change it without destroying his mind for good.'

He nodded sadly. It filled him with dread, even though inside he didn't want to change Dean's memories. He didn't want to deceive him. But he had to. Or his family would hate him.

That pain stayed with him and he got a fresh pang every time Dean smiled at Adam, his new project. Because Adam was still a civilian and Dean had taken it upon himself to make their brother into a proper Winchester. He taught him how to shoot and how to handle himself without a gun. He taught him how to ward the different creatures off and generally what to use against what. It hurt to look at.

It hurt because Dean's eyes shone brighter when he did that and he barely noticed if Sam was present anymore. He'd checked. He'd left in the middle of it and watched from the distance. Dean didn't notice for three hours and when he finally did it was because Sam failed to grab him something he'd asked for without looking. Ironically, it was Adam who answered his confusion with a laugh:

"Sam? You're only noticing that now? He left like.. hours ago."

That didn't feel too nice. But he tried to tell himself that it was useful. It did give him the chance to visit Meg without Dean wondering about his unexplained absence. And he used that chance to praise her for her obedience. He directly included her stopping the demons from going after Dean, as that one had reported to Bobby and Bobby to him, because the order that his vessel's family was not to be touched remained valid.

The demons in question were relieved a second time. First at his return unharmed and then at not getting punished for their stupidity. The angels bristled at that. Yes. Angels. A small horde of angels had gathered around Meg, reluctant to obey her and always on the verge of a skirmish with the demons, but patient enough to await him. Apparently doubt was spreading in Michael's army, considering the fates of his last representatives on earth.

Anna had fallen and died. Uriel had secretly turned to Lucifer even before his release from the cage and died, too. Castiel had abandoned heaven's plan and also died. Zachariah had failed to recruit both the intended vessel and the less desirable but still possible substitute vessel and been utterly destroyed before he as well had died.

Lucifer on the other hand had gathered angels and demons and the hunter that was his true vessel, all natural enemies, yet united against God's plan. So yeah, the angels noticed that Michael's odds were kind of dwindling. And he was not God. More and more considered Lucifer's words that their father might not be where and who they had been made to believe.

So they turned to the one who spoke the truth. Even if that meant having to deal with demons. But they also got to hunt demons, so that was something. As Meg reported, the fallen angels were helping them with Crowley, but had discovered that they couldn't just snatch him.

Apparently, he warded his houses in Enochian, so the angels had to go back for demon support when they found him. Unfortunately that gave him enough time to flee when he noticed them and with hellhounds guarding him, he always did. But they were getting ever faster at finding him and soon enough, she promised, he would not have enough time to ward his house secure enough for angels. They'd get him.

He reassured her that there was no hurry, but disagreed with the use of their angels. Clearly they were wasted on hunting someone they couldn't near. So he sent them back to recruiting. And he told them to spread that he had both of Michael's possible vessels under his control and utterly unwilling to let heaven's champion in again.

All in all appeased he returned to the hunters. Adam, Dean estimated, was ready for a test in the field. Their first job as three brothers.

 

"Can we please get off the road now?"

Dean's knuckles turned white on the wheel of his beloved impala. This was worse than 'Are we there yet?' could ever be. And he was pissed enough. Baby was practically swimming. Fucking weather. So when they got the first chance he left the roaf, parked her as high as he could on the muddy dirt of the next parking lot and ushered his brothers inside the motel.

...Hotel. It was a hotel. And damn, it looked good. Adam agreed in wonder. Sam, though, not so much. Outwardly, he did, but not inside.

'What?'

'I said: The concierge has no soul.'

'...Should I kill him?'

'With what explanation? And besides, we don't even know his intentions. He might be peaceful.'

Yeah, might. Lucifer got a bit uneasy as he counted more and more staff and guests without souls. Then a couple disappeared and the soulless concierge covered it up. That did not sound like a peaceful creature. They parted to investigate the apparent job, Dean taking Adam to have an eye on his trainee.

And Sam was glad, he thought he and Lucifer could get something done without the watchful eyes. But then his charge disappeared and he had a cut on his neck.

'Where did he go?'

'I don't know.'

'What?'

'I'm not almighty, Sam! And most of my senses are angled at beings with souls or grace. This thing hardly registers on any of my radars. But the cut is bad.'

'Why? It's tiny. Am I poisoned?'

'No, but bleeding. And blood is a vital component in many potent spells.'

He was not exactly calmed by that and then Dean and Adam found him only to tell him of an elephant. The hell? And then all the people disappeared. It was just getting worse. With a clear sense of foreboding, the three brothers checked the kitchen and as Adam gagged, just short of throwing up with the sight of eyeballs in the soup flashing before his eyes, Lucifer was stunned.

'Eating humans, no souls, these are pagan gods?!'

'...You're shocked. Could you be any less reassuring?'

'No, not because of that... There were a least a dozen people without souls. Sam, I have never seen a dozen pagans in one place that weren't slaughtering each other, but ...working together. These things don't get along like that!'

That was so strange. But then there was noise in the walk-in freezer. There were people in there! Dean rushed to get them out, fighting the lock as Adam fought his rebellious stomach, not quite a seasoned hunter yet. However, the attempt was cut short. Several gods showed up and with Lucifer inactive to save Dean's mind, they were manhandled out.

And into a banquet hall, as it looked. There the rest of the gods were seated, with name tags to show the hunters just how screwed they were. The concierge seerved human and a man tagged Baldur proclaimed them the guests of honor, but then he frowned.

"Dear Baron, we were expecting two."

"He was with them."

"Another hunter? Curious. But still: The food is kept in the freezer."

He jerked his head in the direction of the door and the brothers realized that Adam was meant to be eaten. Again.

"Oh hell no. Not a second time! Getting eating once is- get off me!"

Dean tried to fight to keep him, but gods were much stronger than humans and then Lucifer realized something. He had never seen so many gods under one roof in peace. Something like this required extrodinary circumstances. And they wanted Sam and Dean. But not for being hunters, which left only one option...

"Wait! He's a vessel!"

The gods stilled and looked to him.

"He is our half-brother and was dead and resurrected by angels because he is a possible vessel for Michael. And that's what you care about, right? Well, guess what: If you eat him, if you kill and discard him, the angels will resurrect him again and have a vessel for heaven, making Dean here useless. You have to keep us all alive."

Dean and Adam looked to him stunned for a moment but then their gazes followed the gods' to Baldur. He narrowed his eyes but nodded and Adam was sat beside them. Then the god in charge formally opened the meeting and explained why they were there. Great. Bargaining chips. That meant contact with angels. Crap!

"Hey, Sam!"

He looked over from his musings to Adam, who was whispering at him: "Thanks for the quick thinking."

"You're welcome. If we make it out of here."

There actually seemed to be an opportunity soon enough as the gods starting fighting at least verbally. Lucifer scoffed at the typical pagan behavior, but the hunters saw a chance. The gods were distracted. They tried to use that and sneak away, but a chandelier crashed down in front of them and the goddess Kali told them to stay. Well, they weren't running now.

Then she proposed violence and when Mercury suggested just trying to talk first, she nearly killed him for it. Then Sam felt Lucifer hiding deeper and doors were flung open.

"Can't we all just get along?"

Gabriel. He silenced Dean's attempt to speak his name and curiously greeted Adam, though he named him 'fresh meat' with a wink that begged to be wiped off his smug face. Adam was _not_ food. He had been, but he wasn't anymore. And then the tricksy archangel strutted past them, exchanged not entirely kind pleasantries with the gods and magically sent the three brothers to another room.

Once there the shocked burst from their released throats and all started talking at the same time for a moment, before Dean revealed a plan that didn't quite deserve the name. Gabriel was quick to tell him so, having reappeared in a lounging position. Like he didn't have a care in the world. But he did.

Just Dean, ever the diplomat, didn't see the sadness in the trickster's eyes and went blundering into accusations, which Gabriel was quick to deny. Apparently, he wanted to save them. Sam was immensely grateful for that. If the archangel in front of him got them out, then maybe the one inside him would not have to reveal himself to Dean.

When Gabriel still spoke of the big fight like a fact, albeit in his own colorful way, Sam's hope was dampened, but then Gabriel confessed at Dean's question that he had a history with Kali and Sam felt his insides knot up with Lucifer's disgust.

'A PAGAN?!'

What hit harder, though, was that right at Lucifer's outburst, Gabriel's eyes flickered over to Sam and he frowned. Lucifer was deathly still in him. He might want to speak with Gabriel, but a) not with Dean in the room and b) this was too sudden, he didn't feel ready.

Fortunately, getting distracted by an angry Dean again, Gabriel shook it off and turned to Adam when that one asked if the gods had a chance against the devil, ignoring Dean's fuming entirely. But no, they stood no chance, which Gabriel worded with his personal touch again. If it weren't so gruesome, Sam might have chuckled. But pride did flare in him, as Lucifer was flattered by his little brother's assessment of his power.

For a moment, Gabriel looked suspicious again, but Dean distracted him once more by asking why he didn't just zap them out. And thus Gabriel revealed the blood spell. Sam winced at the cursing inside him. Of course the blood thing would come back to haunt him. Lucifer just didn't have Gabriel's experience with pagans and hadn't noticed Kali's spell yet.

And his mood did not improve when Dean essentially blackmailed his little brother into compliance with his own plan. He had to save those complete strangers. Even though it risked their escape. Ruined it, really, when it failed.

Or maybe it would have been for naught anyway, he realized as they were forced back into the hall, where Kali had Gabriel. Shit. Dean had to make a stupid comment on top of it, which earned him a mirthless smile from Gabriel and a death glare he fortunately didn't see behind his back from Lucifer.

Then they were seated again and Kali spoke to the entire room, proclaiming that the trickster had tricked them. What a shocker. But then Gabriel pleaded her not to do it and that really shocked Lucifer. As an archangel Gabriel was powerful enough to stop her, yet he refrained. Then that bitch sat in Gabriel's lap and Sam could barely contain his angel anymore. His fury was palpable.

Literally so, in fact. Dean and Adam and the gods around them were too focused on Kali and Gabriel to notice, but Sam could see his brothers' breath now as the air turned colder around the Angel of the Dawn. And then she took Gabriel's blade, an archangel's blade and held it high and revealed his secret identity.

And from that point on, it didn't matter what he said. He could deny their accusations, warn them, beg her to believe him and save herself, but she wouldn't listen. She ranted about the arrogance of the angels and claimed the right to destroy the earth for herself. And then she raised the blade to kill his little brother...

"DON'T. YOU. DARE!"

All eyes turned to Sam, fuming as Dean finally ralized that it was getting kind of cold. Like really freaking cold. So cold even Gabriel could see it from across the room and draw his conclusions.

"Oh, no. No, no, no, no, no, you're not... Kali run. Kali, get your damn ass out of here. Bloody hell, RUN!"

"You don't give me orders!"

She didn't know what she was seeing and her ignorance made her defensive. But as she looked into her former lover's eyes, she saw no insolence. She saw only grief. And then the courage that is born from despair. He lunged for the blade, but she jerked it back and whipped it between them, catching his brow with the tip. It was just a scratch, but as he yelped all the electical lights exploded and a red glow consumed the room, reflected from all the surfaces that had frozen over.

"Step back from my brother, pagan wench."

Ah, now she realized it. Now that his eyes were glowing. Dean, too. But their heated and painful debate had reached the conclusion that Dean knowing was not as terrible as Gabriel dead. Heck, maybe Gabriel could help them to convince Dean that the devil was not so bad. Sam doubted that Dean would trust the guy who had killed him several hundred times any more than he trusted the devil, but he agreed that it was not worth it to let Gabriel die for a temporary reprieve. Dean always found out anyway. Now he knew for good. So be it then.

But right now they had a room of angry gods to face. And Gabriel himself. But gods first. And especially Kali. That bitch that tried to kill his brother. He was shivering with rage as he zeroed in on her and strode forth. Another god stepped in his way, puffed up like a scared songbird. He didn't care which one it was, he squashed him between two invisible wings and left no more than a puddle of red goo on the ground.

That way, he treated all who would fight him. With blasts of energy and reaping wings. He flattened them all until he reached Kali, who still wouldn't listen to Gabriel at her side, trying to urge her to go. But she had the blade, so she thought she had a chance. The nagging ex was flung to the side, still fearing him in league with his kind and then she faced Lucifer. She sent a fireball first, but it extinguished itself on his icy skin.

Then she moved to stab him, but he jerked two long wings beneath her arms' reach and battered her legs before she reached him. She fell with a scream, bones sticking out from her legs. The next attack caught her arm between two wings and a third shoved her down as they ripped up and crossed, severing the arm that had held Gabriel's blade and tossing it over his head. Far out of her reach. Then he crouched down next to his mangled target with a sadistic grin.

 

"Do something, damn it!"

"You do something, if you wanna risk it!"

"Guys, can't we just run?!"

Two glares were directed at Adam and he lowered his eyes in submission as the two continued their hissing battle. Because Dean knew that Gabriel could help. And he better do it, because he had the blade. When it came flying, he had just stared at it and Dean could admit that it was a bit gruesome, plucking something from a severed hand. But... desperate times, right?

Then Gabriel had snatched it back from him though and just continued his earlier nothing. It was clear as day that he wanted to save Kali. He wanted to, it was in his eyes. But he made no move. He was visibly torn, and in his indecisiveness he was impotent to do either.

"Come on! You care about her, I know you do!"

"She just tried to stab me dead with my own blade!"

"Yeah, but you care anyway, don't you?"

His eyes said yes, but not his mouth. His glaze flickered over to Lucifer, back turned and distracted. It was a perfect opportunity.

"I... I can't. I can't kill my brother."

"Can't or won't."

"..."

"Thought so."

"Shut up, you self-righteous hypocrite. You'd never kill yours, either. You know as an angel I can bring him back, you both here got experience with that. So you're brave enough to let me kill him. But how about this: I hold my brother down and _you_ put this blade through his chest, your brother's chest. Can you really look your little brother Sammy in the eye and kill him, even knowing he'll be back? 'Cause Luci wouldn't if I killed him. Only God can bring an archangel back to life. So what do you say? Will you do it? Can you?"

"..."

"Thought so", he dished back Dean's own words and hearing Sam's voice they looked back over to the cloody mess that was Kali on her dying breath.

"You shouldn't have bound us, Kali. You don't collar a wild dog. Because even animals know: When you're hurt by a whip, you go for the wielder. I don't have the expertise in your magic to break this spell, but I know how I can make it useless. I can't be bound when there is no-one binding me. And gods, you empty things, die without residue. Here's to nothing."

And he punched through her skull. Instantly Gabriel felt her hold on them slack off and dissipate. And then Lucifer turned to them. He raised his blade on instinct, but to his utter shock there was no rage, not even bitterness on his brother's face. His eyes only mirrored his own heartache.

He slowly approached and when the blade twitched in Gabriel's nervous hands, he raised his hands placatingly, his wings now drooping, no longer threatening.

"S-stop right there."

"I know you won't hurt me, brother. Gabe, I couldn't hurt you, either."

By god, he wanted to believe that. Dean didn't and Adam didn't care, he just wanted to run. But as the angels lost themselves in each other's eyes, the humans too were mesmerized. So much seemed to be said between them. And then Lucifer let his arms fall. No longer placating, just giving up.

"I think we should talk."

His eyes implored the younger angel and a moment later, the blade sank between them.

"Gabriel? What are you doing?!"

But Dean's protests and Adam's gaping stopped in the blink of an eye as both dropped to the floor. Not by Lucifer, though. Gabriel had stashed the blade back in his coat and sent the others to sleep to give them privacy.

"Alright, ...brother. We should."

**Author's Note:**

> I didn't want to make you wait any longer and it was a long enough already, so I made a cut and posted part one with this. Part two should be up by the 25th, 26th the latest.
> 
> ...I hope you're not mad that this is not mainly about Gabriel, yet. But I didn't want to leave anything out.


End file.
